U-M Facing Suit Over Seats at Big House

Disabled veterans: Stadium renovation plans must include 700 more wheelchair seats.

The Detroit News

By Marisa Schultz
April 18, 2007

Big House seating

Wheelchair seating now:
There are 90 wheelchair-accessible seats -- 45 in each end zone -- in Row 72.

U-M's renovation plan:
Add 72 wheelchair seats on the west side in Row 98. The pricier club seating as well as the new luxury boxes would be accessible, bringing the total to 282.

What the veterans want:
One percent of total stadium seating -- or more than 1,000 seats -- should be wheelchair accessible. Seats must be dispersed throughout various locations and price ranges.
Source: MPVA and U-M

A disabled veterans group filed a federal lawsuit Tuesday against the University of Michigan, claiming Michigan Stadium is inaccessible to people with disabilities and will continue to exclude wheelchair users if U-M's $226 million stadium renovation plans proceed.

In papers filed in U.S. District Court in Ann Arbor, the Michigan Paralyzed Veterans of America want a judge to ban construction at the football stadium until U-M revamps the plan to include more than 700 additional wheelchair seats dispersed throughout the Big House -- a requirement under the federal Americans with Disabilities Act, the veterans say.

The lawsuit also claims U-M officials are aware of such federal accessibility laws that dictate the number and location of wheelchair seating but have "intentionally" avoided compliance.

"We aren't asking for money," said Richard Bernstein, the attorney representing the veterans. "The only thing the paralyzed veterans are asking for is that the university simply follows the Americans with Disabilities Act architectural guidelines."

U-M officials say increasing accessible seating has been their main priority. The area to be renovated, which includes 83 luxury suites, a new press box and 3,200 club seats, will meet federal guidelines and boost the number of wheelchair seats from 90 to 282, U-M officials said.

"Michigan Stadium is compliant with the ADA right now, and the expansion project will also be fully complaint with the ADA," said Kelly Cunningham, U-M spokeswoman.

However, the veterans argue that U-M needs to make the entire stadium accessible. The renovation coupled with concrete repairs constitute a major alteration and trigger higher standards under the ADA, they say.

That means that 1 percent of total seating -- or more than 1,000 seats -- should be wheelchair accessible, and seats need to be dispersed throughout various locations and price ranges.

Routine maintenance does not trigger the higher standards.

Throughout the 1990s, the university has been replacing concrete at the stadium in intervals. Such work is maintenance and exempt from higher compliance rules, U-M has said, because the concrete was torn up and poured again in the exact spot.

"This rebuilding of the stadium was intentionally staggered so as to mask the nature of the extensive renovation and attempt to avoid responsibility to comply with the ADA," the lawsuit claims.

Members of the veterans group have been advising U-M of the standards since last year. Before that, U.S. Department of Education's Office of Civil Rights investigated the university for ADA violations at the stadium, which resulted in a 1999 agreement.

"I never thought it would get to this point," Michael Harris, executive director of the veterans group, said of the lawsuit.

Currently, 52 season ticket holders request wheelchair seating, according to U-M.

One such patron, Clark Shuler, is not returning after 15 years because U-M won't add wheelchair seating throughout the stadium.

If Notre Dame and Ohio State can comply, U-M can, too, said Shuler, treasurer of the Michigan Paralyzed Veterans of America.

"It's a public university and I'm a member of the public, albeit in a wheelchair, and I'd like to have the same choices as everyone else," said Shuler, who now owns Lions tickets because Ford Field is fully accessible.